In this, our 55th edition we have returned to an exploration of what it means to create a home.

Generally we think of home as a safe and secure place to be oneself and from that security take up opportunities to work, study or contribute to community, so we think it’s important to consider why a real home is so often out of the reach of people who live with disabilities. This topic has been the theme of previous editions of CRUcial Times and in some ways nothing has really changed about the fundamental importance of home and how essential it is. What we need to consider to assist someone who lives with disability to create and sustain a home hasn’t changed much either. However, the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in Australia means that for the first time having enough funded support to move into a home of their own is a real possibility for many more people with disabilities.

With many people being offered only accommodation or a bed in a house we thought it was timely to return to the topic of creating a home to ensure that houses do become homes and do offer the comfort and security required to be a Launchpad into the rest of life.

We wish to thank the authors Craig, Jenifur and Paul from The Independent Youth Housing Group (IYHG), Anita and Warren O’Brien and Nigel Webb who have contributed their thoughts and stories to this edition.  We have also included an article written by Mike Duggan for the 40th Edition of  CRUcial Times. Mike, who passed away last year, contributed to many editions of CRUcial Times while serving as President of the Management Committee.

Our authors reflect on the lives they have created from their homes and how integral their home has been in offering them safety, stability, comfort, respite and opportunities to build relationships.  It is also a place  from which they can give back to their friends and community and explore who they are and who they want to be.

If you are having accessibility issues with the attached file, then please find a version with simplified formatting on the edition's webpage. If you need the articles in this edition in a different format to make them more accessible then please get in touch and will we arrange this for you.

Also, please share this publication on to anyone you think may be interested and don't forget there are 54 past editions of CRUcial Times available on our website.  Planning for CRUcial Times No. 56 is underway and will follow on from this edition with a focus on stories that illustrate how people are creating and sustaining independent living options under the new funding arrangements in Australia.